TOKYO – Typhoon Songda churned northeast along Pacific coasts in southern Japan Sunday, bringing with it heavy rains and staying on course to hit Tokyo as it weakened, weather officials said. It was expected to be downgraded to a depression late Sunday but could still dump torrential rain on the northeast coast, which was devastated [...]

BEIJING – Authorities said a blast at a chemical plant in eastern China has killed three people and injured eight others. The government of Zibo city in Shandong province said in a statement Sunday that police were investigating the cause of the explosion at a chemical plant owned by Shandong Baoyuan Chemical Co. Ltd. The [...]

KUALA LUMPUR – A team of UN atomic energy experts began a week-long visit to Malaysia on Sunday to review the safety of a proposed Australian rare earths refinery that has drawn protests. Following public concerns that radioactive waste from the plant could leak out and harm the environment, Malaysia has put the project by [...]

TOKYO – Emergency workers on Sunday restored the cooling system of a reactor which had come to a halt after escaping major damage from the March 11 quake and damage at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant. The water pump to cool the reactor and the pool for spent nuclear fuel at the facility’s No. [...]